Kevetrin reduces tumor volume by 72%: Cellceutix

Oct 6 2009

October is breast cancer awareness month with many supporters touting pink ribbons, but in health stocks investors are watching the market closely for news of new drugs in various stages of testing. Recently, Cellceutix (OTCBB: CTIX) announced its pharmaceutical compound Kevetrin reduced tumor volume by 72%, giving new hope for breast cancer patients.

Cellceutix's Kevetrin compound has shown itself effective against drug-resistant cancer cells which the Company's Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Krishna Menon says were "very consistent" results compared with earlier tests conducted in July. In its late September announcement, the Beverly, Mass.-based Company said that laboratory tests on mice implanted with drug-resistant human cancer cells showed that tumor volume was reduced by 72% while growth was delayed by more than 52% when compared to those mice treated with paclitaxel (Taxol) or with cisplatin.

"These results are very consistent with the results in multi-drug resistant lung cancer cell lines that we announced in July," said Dr. Menon.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women today with nearly one-in-three women diagnosed dying from the deadly disease, a fact that Dr. Menon and his colleagues are all too aware of. In a telephone interview late Monday afternoon, Cellceutix CFO Leo Ehrlich said the Company was "moving as quickly as is possible to begin FDA testing of its Kevetrin compound on humans," though he stopped short of giving details not previously announced.

Ehrlich pointed out that Cellceutix's CEO, George Evans, had been General Counsel for Pfizer's worldwide prescription drug unit before ending his career at Pfizer to lead Cellceutix Corporation forward in the development of its pharmaceutical compounds and that the company filed patent protection on Kevetrin in May 2009.

Cellceutix is placing its faith in early animal tests which show Kevetrin can work against drug-resistant forms of cancer cells, which the Company claims is one of the main causes of failure in the treatment of cancer. But cancer-treating compounds aren't the only focus of Cellceutix's plans. After the closing bell on Monday, Cellceutix announced that proprietary compound, KM-133, was shown to be effective in the treatment of psoriasis with reoccurrence non-existent after 61 days. While the news for psoriasis suffers is as significant as Kevetrin's test results for breast cancer patients, both compounds must first go through FDA trials before the compounds can be brought to market. For investors tracking health stocks during breast cancer awareness month, Cellceutix's progress may bear watching.